Why Does Chris Brogan Refer To Himself In the Third Person ?

You know a little teensy bit about HTML, right? You realize that the value of what you say in the link text is important to how Google sees what you’re pointing out, right?

Tell me, what is the most common word or phrase you use as link text on your blog? Is it “home” or “here” or “click here” or “more?” On lots of blogs, that’s what I see. Tell me, do you refer to yourself by name or do you always say “I?” If you only (or more often than not) say “I,” then how do search engines know who you mean?

On my about page, I refer to myself in the third person for that reason. I do the same on my professional speaking page.

And you know it’s really really awesome when someone else on their website refers to you with awesome link text like if I called Julien a top rated professional speaker. Right?

Oh, and I set my permalinks (google it) so that every post shows real words instead of things like =?p354 at the end of every post. You might do the same, as google doesn’t really care what’s at the end of that string.

These are the basics, and yet, we overlook them sometimes while installing our Retweet buttons and our flashy comment system and our social bookmarking bar. The basics matter.

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http://www.encountermarketingonline.com Matt Heffner

Never even thought about this before. Thanks Chris for the basic yet incredibly valuable thoughts.
Jonathan Trenn

Chris

Since you write about yourself in the third person, please tell Chris that I’m reading his book Trust Agents right now.

http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

That’s great. Tell Jonathan that the Thunderbird front end you gave Chris a while ago fell on Chris’s head the other day and it is POINTY. : )
http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

That’s great. Tell Jonathan that the Thunderbird front end you gave Chris a while ago fell on Chris’s head the other day and it is POINTY. : )

http://www.superdumbsupervillain.com/ superdumb

I just figured it was a pretentious affectation, like the royal “we” or something. No, not really.
http://scrappypencil.com Paul Cheney

You refer to yourself in the 3rd person because of search engines? Pshhh…let’s be honest. Paul Cheney knows you do it to feel powerful and superior.
http://martynchamberlin.com/ Martyn Chamberlin…

Oh good grief man this totally makes sense but I’ve never thought about it before. I’m off to go change some stuff right now.
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http://www.danieldecker.net Daniel Decker

Geesh. The basics. I’ve missed it totally. Off to update my ABOUT page. :)
http://ajleon.me ajleon

I just learned a little while back how important anchor text is. Basics, basics … thanks for sharing the tips, Chris :)
Sonia Simone

I just like that jaunty photo. You look like the Robin Hood of office supplies.

http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

An oldie but a goodie. : )
http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

An oldie but a goodie. : )

http://nancimurdock.com Nanci Murdock

I totally wrote the same post just a few weeks ago but you do it with such, “flair”!

You rock Chris Brogan.

Thanks for making me realize that you can take a pretty dull subject and make it awesome.

xx
http://nancimurdock.com Nanci Murdock

I totally wrote the same post just a few weeks ago but you do it with such, “flair”!

You rock Chris Brogan.

Thanks for making me realize that you can take a pretty dull subject and make it awesome.

xx

http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

Thanks for helping people figure out the same good/important stuff. : )
http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

Thanks for helping people figure out the same good/important stuff. : )
http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

Thanks for helping people figure out the same good/important stuff. : )
http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

Thanks for helping people figure out the same good/important stuff. : )
http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

Thanks for helping people figure out the same good/important stuff. : )

http://nancimurdock.com Nanci Murdock

I totally wrote the same post just a few weeks ago but you do it with such, “flair”!

You rock Chris Brogan.

Thanks for making me realize that you can take a pretty dull subject and make it awesome.

xx
Anonymous

Thom Singer likes this post :-)
Anonymous

Thom Singer likes this post :-)
http://www.TheFranchiseKingBlog.com The Franchise King

Chris,

Thanks a lot. I guess I’ll be doing some edits. This weekend. OY.

JL
http://www.TheFranchiseKingBlog.com The Franchise King

Chris,

Thanks a lot. I guess I’ll be doing some edits. This weekend. OY.

JL
http://twitter.com/james_brooks James Brooks

It’s interesting I should stumble upon this post as I was thinking about this the other day. I was reading the blog of a guy who seemed to be a self-proclaimed-social-media-guru and I thought that him talking about himself in the 3rd person was, hrmm, pretty pretentious and impersonal.

I think that getting the balance right is key, sure, SEO is super important, but as important as not sounding like a Jerk? At the end of the day, if you work hard and produce great content then the magic will happen. I prefer being in it for the long haul SEO wise. I am not knocking what you are saying though, it is thought provoking, and I think a careful look at your keywords & content is extremely valuable!
http://twitter.com/james_brooks James Brooks

It’s interesting I should stumble upon this post as I was thinking about this the other day. I was reading the blog of a guy who seemed to be a self-proclaimed-social-media-guru and I thought that him talking about himself in the 3rd person was, hrmm, pretty pretentious and impersonal.

I think that getting the balance right is key, sure, SEO is super important, but as important as not sounding like a Jerk? At the end of the day, if you work hard and produce great content then the magic will happen. I prefer being in it for the long haul SEO wise. I am not knocking what you are saying though, it is thought provoking, and I think a careful look at your keywords & content is extremely valuable!

http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

Right. It’s kind of tricky to get the balance right, because LOTS of people come off wrong. : )

http://twitter.com/james_brooks James Brooks

It’s interesting I should stumble upon this post as I was thinking about this the other day. I was reading the blog of a guy who seemed to be a self-proclaimed-social-media-guru and I thought that him talking about himself in the 3rd person was, hrmm, pretty pretentious and impersonal.

I think that getting the balance right is key, sure, SEO is super important, but as important as not sounding like a Jerk? At the end of the day, if you work hard and produce great content then the magic will happen. I prefer being in it for the long haul SEO wise. I am not knocking what you are saying though, it is thought provoking, and I think a careful look at your keywords & content is extremely valuable!
Sharon Leah

Thank you. I revised the About page on my blog after reading this post. I really appreciate your common-sense approach to self-promotion.

Sharon Leah

http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

I try to be helpful. : )
http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

I try to be helpful. : )

http://ariwriter.com Ari Herzog

Yet your LinkedIn summary is in first person. Why not be consistent, Chris?
http://ariwriter.com Ari Herzog

Yet your LinkedIn summary is in first person. Why not be consistent, Chris?
http://ariwriter.com Ari Herzog

Yet your LinkedIn summary is in first person. Why not be consistent, Chris?
http://cashwithatrueconscience.com/rbblog Ryan Biddulph

I hadn’t thought of this Chris. Excellent tips, thanks for sharing!

RB
Cat

Great post. As journalists we are taught that is a big no-no. I will now change the I habit and use Cathy Von Hassel-Davies.

Hugs!!!
http://twitter.com/ian_goodall Ian

My blog now has an about me page referring to myself in the third person. I must say that it was a bizarre but interesting experience writing about me as if I were someone else. It seems like a good way of being more reflective on what you have already achieved and what you plan to do as well as helping with SEO.
http://www.alexdumitru.com Alex Dumitru

I also talk about me in the third person and I do this especially in the “about me” pages.
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http://www.blackfridayplanet.com/ William Hushburn

Hey that’s really smart. It would be easier for people to find you using the third party name.
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Why Does Chris Brogan Refer To Himself In the Third Person ?

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